


show me where you lost your heart

by smaragdbird



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Fake Marriage, First Kiss, M/M, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, liberties were taken with the timelines of Leonardo's and Ezio's lives, so many assumptions on both sides, spot the Da Vinci's Demons reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22511770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaragdbird/pseuds/smaragdbird
Summary: Four years ago, Ezio married Leonardo under a false name to give him some protection in Florence. Even now that he's an established Assassin and leader, they never got around to an annulment.When Ezio overhears Leonardo and another man, he realises that he should give Leonardo the freedom to marry someone he loves.Someone who is not Ezio, unfortunately.
Relationships: Ezio Auditore da Firenze/Leonardo da Vinci
Comments: 10
Kudos: 172
Collections: Alternate Universe Exchange 2019





	show me where you lost your heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedevilchicken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilchicken/gifts).



> I apologise for the lateness of this story and hope you like it anyway :)

“Why did you ask me here then?” 

An angry man’s voice was the first thing Ezio heard when he came home. No matter how much time he spent in Monteriggioni, home to him would always be Florence. And, for the last four years, Leonardo’s workplace.

“I’ve told you, Jacopo. I needed a model.”

“Is that why you waited until your ‘husband’ was gone.” Ezio could hear his contempt when he spat out the word. 

“Girolamo is my husband, whether you like it or not.” Girolamo had been the name Leonard had suggested for Ezio to pose as the husband Leonardo’s father had picked out for him after his trial to keep him on a leash. Both the new identity and the marriage had offered Ezio some protection within Florence at a time when he had been declared lawless.

“Is that why you pine after him like a lost puppy?” Jacopo sneered. “I bet he fucked everyone in Italy except you, so why don’t you return the favour? You never had a problem with that before you married.”

Ezio’s stomach churned at the implications of Jacopo’s words. His reputation had come from a tendency to flirt with everyone in his vicinity but he had rarely followed up with it. He had been too consumed by his vengeance, but also making sure that Monteriggioni was thriving and that his mother and sister were safe.

But Leonardo had no reason to stick to this charade of their marriage. Ezio knew he tended to get lost when working on a new design, artwork or codex page, but that still should’ve left him plenty of time to find companionship. Unless…

“Go.” 

Lost in his thoughts, Ezio hadn’t noticed the silence until Leonardo’s voice cut through it.

“Fine”, Jacopo huffed. “You’ll be back sooner or later when you notice that your charcoals won’t keep your bed warm.”

the door leading from the workshop out into the street was slammed and Ezio could hear Leonardo release his breath. Suddenly he felt hesitant coming out of the shadows. He didn’t want to make the situation awkward since those words had clearly not been meant for his ears.

Without making a noise, Ezio slipped outside again, quickly climbing to the roof. There were no guards around to spot him and he needed a moment to think before he faced Leonardo again.

Why would Leonardo refuse companionship just because he had married Ezio? Their marriage was sham, the church register did not even have Ezio’s real name written down. Fidelity was for…

Oh.

_Oh._

The revelation hit him so hard, Ezio had to sit down. But if that true then why had Leonardo never made a move? Why had he never given any indication that he saw more than a friend in Ezio, that this marriage was more than a favour?

Even the kiss that had sealed their union had been chaste and for the last four years Ezio had come to accept that Leonardo liked men, but not him, not like that.

Except apparently that wasn’t true. Or maybe it was and this Jacopo had it all wrong. Maybe Leonardo did have someone, someone who was not Ezio. Someone he had to keep secret.

That made more sense. One of his assistants perhaps or a model. 

Francesco.

The name came to Ezio immediately, the name of Leonardo’s favourite student and a count on top of that. He had joined barely a year after their marriage when Leonardo had painted the Countess Melzi, one of the few he had finished. Given the difference in age and Leonardo’s tendency to call Francesco ‘son’ had had quickly soothed Ezio’s jealousy he had felt the first time he had seen them interact. There was such an ease there, Francesco had no problems following even the flightiest of Leonardo’s thoughts. And he was a count, a noble. He could provide Leonardo with much more wealth and stability than Ezio ever could. When they had married, he had come to Leonardo empty handed, hounded by enemies and even now, four years later what did he have to show except more enemies? Monteriggioni? The Brotherhood? Ezio scoffed to himself.

Perhaps it was time he had a conversation with Leonardo. He didn’t want to stand in the way of his friend’s happiness. An annulment would be easily granted, after all the marriage had never been consummated. And then Leonardo could marry for love.

Ezio remembered Leonardo on their wedding day, a quiet affair out of necessity, but he had seemed happy. An emotion that had no doubt come from the knowledge that Ezio, his friend, was safe now.

When he married Francesco, how would he look then? It would be a bigger event of course, undoubtedly held at the Cathedral in Milan. Ezio’s heart seized in his chest as he tried to imagine it. But he had no right to be selfish. Leonardo had done so much for him, giving him his freedom was the least Ezio could do for him, no matter how much it hurt. Deep in his heart he had always hoped that maybe one day Leonardo would change his mind about him. That one day he’d look at Ezio and wouldn’t just see his friend but someone he desired.

A fool’s dream. Ezio knew he wasn’t the kind of guy that would usually stand before an altar and pledge his lifelong devotion to one person. He was the kind of guy others had their fun with before or after their ‘proper’ marriage.

As a young man that had seemed ideal to him. 

Ezio rose to his feet. There was no point in delaying this any longer. Four years was already a long time to be married to someone you didn’t love.

/

“I think we should seek an annulment.”

Like a shot bird, Leonardo’s face fell when Ezio said those words.

“I see.” Suddenly the distance between them felt much bigger than those two or three steps that separated them physically.

“I can never thank you enough for what have you done for me”, Ezio said, words unable to show his true gratitude. He owed Leonardo so much than just words. “You protected me when no one else could or wanted to. You’re my dearest friend, there is no one else I trust more.” No one else I love more; he swallowed those words.

“And I have told you many times before that there is no debt between friends”, Leonardo replied. He was smiling but he didn’t look happy. He looked wounded. “What is her name?”

“Her name?” Ezio repeated. The question had taken him by surprise. 

“The name of the woman you seek to marry? Countess Sforza? She’s a formidable woman. You’ve chosen well.”

“I haven’t seen her since I rescued her children from the Orsi brothers.” Ezio was confused. Why were they talking about Catherina Sforza?

“My mistake. Who is she then?”

“There is no one”, Ezio said. “I was thinking about you. I’ve overheard Jacopo and you talking earlier and I know you married me to protect me but you shouldn’t feel obligated to stick to this charade just because of me. Francesco is a good young man and you should marry someone you love truly.”

“You’re not making any sense Ezio. Why would I marry my student?”

“Because he gets you. I’ve seen the two of you together. He isn’t just a pretty face like Salai or Alessandro. He’s a true artist like you. He understands you. He loves you. And he is a count. He can offer you more than I ever could.”

“You are frightening me. Why this sudden insistence I should marry Francesco? What happened Ezio?”

“I told you. I overheard you and Jacopo, I heard you turning him down. And I don’t want to keep you from being with the man you love.”

“You’re not.” The words were said quietly, almost as if Leonardo didn’t want him to hear them.

“I don’t understand.” Ezio looked at him helplessly. 

“You’re the man I love, Ezio.”

“But…you never…” He was at loss for words and rooted to the spot. It was as if he could feel the world shift under his feet. 

“We can go to the magistrate in the morning”, Leonardo said, voice closed off and Ezio felt as if there was door closing right in his face so he spurred into action, grabbing Leonardo with both hands and pressing their lips together.

Leonardo was still against him, as if this turn of events had shocked him as much as it had Ezio, but then he moved, wrapping his arms around Ezio’s neck and pulling him even closer. 

The kiss was indescribable in the same way coming home after a long and hard journey was indescribable. There was a feeling of rightfulness to this, after all wasn’t it said that the best marriages were made in heaven?

“I love you”, Ezio whispered as he leaned their foreheads together. “Of course I love you.”

Leonardo’s hands cupped his face, his thumb tracing the scar on Ezio’s lip. “You never said.”

“You never said it ether. I thought that you married me as a favour, that you saw me as a friend, nothing more.”

“At first I didn’t want to pressure you, when you still needed my protection”; Leonardo explained. “And then…your reputation with women, I... I didn’t dare to hope.”

“We were fools, the two of us”, Ezio said, pressing another kiss to Leonardo’ lips now that he could do so freely. 

“Unable to see what was right in front of us”, Leonardo agreed. “Perhaps I should thank Jacopo for his outbreak.”

“You can thank him by proving him wrong.”

“How so?”

“By letting your husband finally warm your bed. After four years I think our wedding night is long overdue, don’t you?”

Leonardo gave him a look that was equally fond and exasperated and seeing it made Ezio’s heart fly, knowing that it was just for him. Then he leaned in and brushed his lips against Ezio’s ear as he whispered, “I will take you apart piece by piece to see how you tick and then put you back together. That will take much longer than one night.”

A shiver ran down Ezio’s spine and he couldn’t help himself but sink to his knees in front of Leonardo, his body unwilling to take another step without some relief.

“Just one request”, he said, his hands resting on Leonardo’s thighs and Leonardo’s fingers tangled in his hair. 

“Anything.” It was said without hesitation, without condition. And here Ezio had thought he couldn’t possibly grow to love Leonardo even more.

“Marry me. Under my real name. Marry me as Ezio Auditore.”

An impossibly soft look crossed Leonardo’s face. “I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me [ here](http://smaragdbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


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